When the Marvel NOW! initiative was announced last month it created a bit of a stir, both in the comic book world and in the internal Talking Comics family, at that time we knew very little except that a lot of books would be transitioning creative teams and getting new number ones. The initial crop of books has been well documented, but to recap we have Uncanny Avengers written by Rick Remender with art by John Cassaday, Avengers, written by Jonathan Hickman with art by Jerome Opena, New Avengers also written by Hickman with art by Steve Epting and All-New X-Men, written by Brian Michael Bendis with art by Stuart Immomen.
These initial announcements were followed closely by the release of Marvel’s october solicitations that heralded the end of 9 Marvel titles which were Captain America, Fantastic Four, FF, Incredible Hulk, Invincible Iron Man, New Mutants, The Mighty Thor, Uncanny X-Men and X-Men Legacy. The internet exploded with cries of foul play against some of their favorite books, but now just a few short weeks later we have teases that portent the return of 7 of those 9 books. Take a peek at the teasers below and let us know your thoughts on the teams!
What Is It?
Invincible is clearly a reference to the Invincible Iron Man.
The Team:
Kieron Gillen who is doing standout work on Journey Into Mystery and Uncanny X-Men.
Greg Land has worked with Gillen on Uncanny X-Men, and also has Nightwing and Birds of Prey on his resume.
What Is It?
“Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.” This tease is heralding the return of the Norse God of Thunder, Thor.
The Team:
Jason Aaron who is responsible for the current runs of Wolverine and The X-Men, The Incredible Hulk and a few of the best issues of Avengers Vs. X-Men. He has also written The Punisher, Ghost Rider, Wolverine and was the writer of X-Men: Schism.
Esad Ribic was the penciler on the Loki series, and he has also done work on Uncanny X-Force, The Ultimates, and did the covers for the House of M event.
What Is It?
Indestructible’s green coloring points to the one and only Hulk.
The Team:
Mark Waid is a comic book legend who is currently writing the Eisner Award winning Daredevil, but his resume stretches far back. He has done runs on The Flash, Captain America, Fantastic Four, The Amazing Spider-Man, Legion of Superheroes as well as the Doctor Strange miniseries Strange and Kingdom Come with Alex Ross.
Leinil Yu worked with Mark Waid on Superman: Birthright, he also has done work on Wolverine, Secret Invasion, Superior (With Mark Millar) and he drew the wonderful Avenging Spider-Man #5 earlier this year.
What Is It?
This is possibly the most confusing teaser of the bunch for those unfamiliar with the character involved. However, if you do know this person it’s clear that this can only be the Merc with the Mouth, the one, the only, and the Mexican food loving Deadpool.
The Team:
Brian Posehn and Gerry Duggan are not seasoned comic book writers, although they did team on The Last Christmas, a five-issue miniseries published by Image about a post-apocalyptic Santa Claus fighting Zombies in the North Pole. Posehn is better known for his work as comedian, appearing on The Sarah Silverman Program, Just Shoot Me and Human Giant. Duggan is not very well known at all, but he is a writer on the G4 program Attack of the Show!
Tony Moore did the art for the first six issues of The Walking Dead, as well as work with Rick Remender on Fear Agent, Punisher and Venom.
What Is It?
The soldier is the popular nickname for the man of of time Captain America.
The Team:
Rick Remender is the current writer on Uncanny X-Force, Secret Avengers, and Venom. His past work includes The Punisher, Fear Agent and Strange Girl.
John Romita Jr. is one of the most storied artists in Marvel history his resume includes The Amazing Spider-Man, The Avengers, Thor, Uncanny X-Men, Wolverine, Daredevil, Iron Man, Punisher: War Zone and the list goes on and on.
What Is It?
All signs point to this being a relaunch of X-Men: Legacy which saw Rogue taking a central role as the tutor to the younger X-Men on Utopia.
The Team:
Simon Spurrier cut his teeth doing stories for the British Comic Book Anthology 2000AD, with things like Lobster Random and The Simple Detective, but he is best known for his work on several Judge Dredd stories.
Tan Eng Huat did pencils for Annihilators and Annihilators: Earthfall, The Punisher, Thor: First Thunder, Deadpool and Ghost Rider.
What Is It?
The last two Marvel teases relate to two interconnected books, Family is for Fantastic Four and Extended is believed to refer to FF (Future Foundation which is a philanthropic organization created by Mister Fantastic to better serve humanity’s future).
The Team:
Matt Fraction is the current writer on The Mighty Thor, The Invincible Iron Man, The Defenders, The Incredible Hulk and Hawkeye. He is also one of the architects of Avengers Vs. X-Men and was a co-writer on the excellent Immortal Iron Fist series.
Mark Bagley was the original artist on Ultimate Spider-Man, New Warriors, Thunderbolts and Trinity. He is responsible for the current Brilliant comic book with Brian Michael Bendis and has done runs on Justice League of America, Mighty Avengers and Batman.
Mike Allred created the character of Madman, is the artist on iZombie, and did a run with Peter Milligan on X-Force.
